Outside of Union, New Jersey, and Rutgers University, the name Brian Sheridan may not be a household name. But for those who were lucky enough to know him or cross paths with him in the Union High School hallway, he was more than just your larger than life jock.
Furthermore, he was far from the typical high school jock. He was genuine and respected everyone, whether you were a fellow football player, and in most cases, even if you weren’t. Which if you were the latter, made you want to cheer him on even more on Friday nights when he was shredding defenses.
Brian passed away on Tuesday, he was 45.
Extremely sad day as we mourn the loss of @CoachBSheridan.
Not only an outstanding coach, but one of the baddest men to ever strap it up in the state of NJ.
A true LEGEND at @TheU_FarmersFB & @RFootball, he was also a GREAT friend & teammate.
RIP 4️⃣3️⃣💔🙌🏼
Love you brother pic.twitter.com/pA1rGU0KcK— UHS FOOTBALL (@TheU_FarmersFB) September 16, 2020
Sheridan was a New Jersey Player of the Year at Union High School in New Jersey. Sheridan was the 1992 Gatorade State Player of the Year. He was a two-time All-State selection for Union, leading the Farmers to a pair of undefeated seasons. The Union teams he was a member of were the state of New Jersey’s top-ranked team under the late, legendary high school football coach, Lou Rettino.
He converted to linebacker and stood out at that position at Rutgers University. After high school, Sheridan was a four-year letter winner at linebacker and a two-year captain at Rutgers University. He set the school record for tackles in a single-season with 161, 109 of those were solo stops, in 1997.
Sheridan earned the Homer Hazel Award as the team MVP that season and was also named Second Team All Big East. He still remains third in school history with 369 career tackles and second all-time with 26 tackles in a game.
Sheridan later returned to coach his high school team from 2007 through 2011. He went 25-16 in that role.
Most recently Sheridan was the head coach at American Heritage in Delray Beach, Florida. He joined them in December. In a statement, the school said Sheridan “quietly and courageously fought an illness for several months.”
Facebook posts as news of his passing spread in addition to condolences and sorry for your loss featured words like dynamic player, good friend, great teammate, genuine guy, great coach, and a great mentor. Proof that he was anything but the stereotypical jock.
The one overwhelming repeated sentiment uttered was #Fcancer.
Rest in peace, Brian. Our thoughts and prayers are with your family and loved ones.
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Main Image Credit:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/brian-sheridan-former-rutgers-union-star-dies-at-45/ar-BB194SNv?fullscreen=true#image=1
